The movie is an adaptation of a short book that Universal optioned years ago and decided not to make the film version.

Just finished reading the James Sallis book to which you refer. Sallis' novel differs from the film in several important respects but I thought the film did a good job of showing Driver, the existential loaner and man of action, as Sallis wrote the character: movie stunt driver by day, criminal wheelman at night, and stone killer when the occasion called for it.

I just saw the movie with my mom last night. She's not squemish but thought the violent deaths were over the top and unnecessary. I'm indifferent.

A few things stuck out for me though.

For one, the movie's production had a certain, strong '80s feel to it (minus the heavy swearing and excessive violence). It was something that the old Michael Mann might've made:

- Long, pensive, still scenes focused on a character deep in thought. The airy keyboard chords in the background held for dramatic effect.

- Several slow-paced yet stylish "photography" scenes where the entire shot is consciously framed/lit/etc. to make a lasting impression on the viewer.

- Overlaying several events with generic pop tunes with lyrics that are somewhat tied into the characters and their emotions.

It felt a tad pretentious, as if the film makers were consciously trying to ensure each major scene was deeper than the obvious action taking place, but overall a movie that kept my interest from beginning to end.

What threw me off more than anything was some of the plot elements that were either beyond comprehension, or weren't fleshed out well enough in the story from what I could tell.

Firstly, I still don't see the logic in how that woman got caught up with the driver to begin with. Yes, people give in to emotions all the time, but flirting with him is one thing. Allowing the driver to become involved with her son, knowing she has a violent husband in jail? She was way too open about it IMHO.

But when the husband was let out and returns home, outside of being a tad suspicious of the driver's motives at first for hanging out with his wife and son(!), he welcomes him into the circle of trust.

Lastly, the driver himself. A decent looking guy who drives exotic cars and has a intelligence + charm obviously would have little problems with the ladies. Even buying the idea that he deeply felt she may have been his soul mate, I still have a hard time seeing him go to such extremes so fast when they hadn't even developed a relationship to that point. Infatuation is not enough to send a guy going buck wild like he did.

The final attack scene made the least amount of sense. Corpses are everywhere from the actions on both sides. And the two principals remaining (other than the girl) meet each other with no pre conditions as if there was no chance that more violence wouldn't occur? And they bring knives instead of guns? It's not like they frisked each other.

Evil boss: "Where's the money?"
Driver: "In the car."

.
No one in real life goes into that situation with no plan and completely throws away their leverage. This is especially true when we were conditioned in how meticulous he was in planning/executing his driving capers. It just made no sense.

I gave the movie a 7.5. Mom gave it a 7.

EDIT: I just read through some of the thread for the first time. It's interesting to see some of my thoughts shared by others. Josh Z caught on to the '80s vibe as well (Michael Mann's Maneater came to mind as I was watching it too).

For one, the movie's production had a certain, strong '80s feel to it (minus the heavy swearing and excessive violence). It was something that the old Michael Mann might've made:

Firstly, I still don't see the logic in how that woman got caught up with the driver to begin with. Yes, people give in to emotions all the time, but flirting with him is one thing. Allowing the driver to become involved with her son, knowing she has a violent husband in jail? She was way too open about it IMHO.

But when the husband was let out and returns home, outside of being a tad suspicious of the driver's motives at first for hanging out with his wife and son(!), he welcomes him into the circle of trust.

There were plenty of '80s movies with swearing and over the top violence (ever see Rambo, or Commando?). I agree with the Mann comment though.

As far as the "violent" husband goes, he turned out to be not so tough. He brought Driver in because of the garage situation. The Driver could have easily told the wife, but didn't.

The entire film is filled with each major character making a bad decision, and the consequences of that.

It wasn't a perfect film, but I loved it anyway.

BTW, did anyone else notice the Christina Hendricks masks in the makeup trailer when Driver went to get the bald guy mask?

When I mentioned the over-the-top violence when compared to films of the 80s, I was thinking about those slow moviing dramas mentioned earlier, like Maneater. Compared to the films whose style was somewhat emulated in Drive, the violence was waaaaaay beyond what was done back then.

The only thing about it that bothered me is that it didn't seem "natural" in this particular film. The violence was so graphic with each death that it looks as if the film makers sat around trying to make them extra gory, like they do in low budget horror films.

Other dramas, from the 80s mind you, with graphic violence in them like Scarface (Chi Chi, get the yeyo) and Untouchables (Capone loves baseball) did it in a more restrained way so that the shocking murders fit more naturally with the overall story. The gore factor didn't feel forced, and comparatively were actually more restrained than what we saw in Drive.

Firstly, I still don't see the logic in how that woman got caught up with the driver to begin with. Yes, people give in to emotions all the time, but flirting with him is one thing. Allowing the driver to become involved with her son, knowing she has a violent husband in jail? She was way too open about it IMHO.

But when the husband was let out and returns home, outside of being a tad suspicious of the driver's motives at first for hanging out with his wife and son(!), he welcomes him into the circle of trust.

Take that back. I live in L.A. and when I considered the guy messing around with my wife and playing with my kids behind my back to rob a pawn shop with me, I refused to ask him and took the one-legged hooker instead. I have my pride to think of.

I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. I totally agree with Joeblow's observation that some shots were just too contrived. Like the one with Gosling's back to the viewer, looking out the window, with a single light to light the scorpion on his back. That lighting setup is totally stylized and made me wonder......why?

OTOH, College's "A Real Hero" is a beautiful song. They played it twice. I bought it off iTunes as soon as I was done. And I could not keep me eyes off of Carey Mulligan. Unbelievable, natural beauty.

I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. I totally agree with Joeblow's observation that some shots were just too contrived. Like the one with Gosling's back to the viewer, looking out the window, with a single light to light the scorpion on his back. That lighting setup is totally stylized and made me wonder......why?

I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. I totally agree with Joeblow's observation that some shots were just too contrived. Like the one with Gosling's back to the viewer, looking out the window, with a single light to light the scorpion on his back. That lighting setup is totally stylized and made me wonder......why?

Quote:

Originally Posted by oink

Because the redeeming value of this movie is STYLE.

I agree that in Drive Refn promotes style over substance at every turn. The film is a tribute to '40s and '50s films noir, except Refn's version is on steroids. As noted in earlier posts, though, for me Refn's Drive mostly worked, although it ended up being about as realistic as a Kabuki dance.

I watched this the other night and wasn't that impressed. The special effects "gore" was top notch and that's about the highlights of the movie for me besides the some of the driving. A silent set and strange, mystical audio with nothing being said (aka the "style") didn't do much for me. The night cinematography was also very good.

Another complaint that just came to mind - for a film called "Drive", there seemed to be too few driving scenes and outside of the opening chase nothing else was memorable. I went into the movie expecting an instant classic driving sequence like the ones in Bullit and Ronin.

Another complaint that just came to mind - for a film called "Drive", there seemed to be too few driving scenes and outside of the opening chase nothing else was memorable. I went into the movie expecting an instant classic driving sequence like the ones in Bullit and Ronin.

I liked it much better than Ronin. Bullet is just too old to compare it to. I liked the stylized schemes, and the strange casting worked. Alberts Brooks is not an actor I would automatically think of as an evil mobster. I doubt many women can handle the gore of this film. Not a chick flick at all.

Mondo is very proud to announce the release of the Drive soundtrack on vinyl for the first time in America. Regarded as one of the best soundtracks of 2011, the album is propelled by Cliff Martinez's original score, plus songs by Kavinsky, Desire, Chromatics, and more. Mondo will be utilizing the talents of Tyler Stout for cover and package design, and will also be releasing a limited edition screenprinted poster to celebrate the occasion.

The 2xLP will be released in the US in June of 2012. Follow @Mondonews on Twitter for more information

Mondo is very proud to announce the release of the Drive soundtrack on vinyl for the first time in America. Regarded as one of the best soundtracks of 2011, the album is propelled by Cliff Martinez's original score, plus songs by Kavinsky, Desire, Chromatics, and more. Mondo will be utilizing the talents of Tyler Stout for cover and package design, and will also be releasing a limited edition screenprinted poster to celebrate the occasion.

The 2xLP will be released in the US in June of 2012. Follow @Mondonews on Twitter for more information

Bullet was made before I was even born, and I only saw it for the first time in the last five years or so. Age is irrelevant - the chase sequence in that film blows away anything in Drive.

I too loved Bullitt [note the correct spelling] and agree that its iconic chase scene through the streets of San Francisco is still riveting. The Bullitt BD is included in my fairly small collection. I thought the chase sequences in Drive were good too, especially the first one, but Drive's chases were very different from the famous one in Bullitt.

I watched this the other night and wasn't that impressed. The special effects "gore" was top notch and that's about the highlights of the movie for me besides the some of the driving. A silent set and strange, mystical audio with nothing being said (aka the "style") didn't do much for me. The night cinematography was also very good.

larry

Brooding current hot actor works until you have to have a story, script, whatever. This had the style and then....the style. Wait, didn't you get the memo? You're supposed to like it, just cause it has the actor being.... I give up, what was the question again?

LOL! Yet Vinyl has acquired somewhat of a new popularity within recent years. Besides, the dance/DJ crowd still loves it, which I think is an important part of the target demographic for this soundtrack. I love hard trance/hardstyle and I too have some of these I must admit Hopefully they thought they had a market for it before releasing it ...As for me I'm quite happy with my CD, it is a great ambient score with a few very good songs as well.

__________Nicolas.

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."- Victor Hugo.

Yep, Ryan Gosling man of a thousand expressions, all alike. They said the same thing about Clint Eastwood in his early years, though, so what do we know. More seriously, I have come around to the idea that Gosling's catatonic performance was mostly Refn's fault.

Yep, Ryan Gosling man of a thousand expressions, all alike. They said the same thing about Clint Eastwood in his early years, though, so what do we know. More seriously, I have come around to the idea that Gosling's catatonic performance was mostly Refn's fault.

Having not read the book I don't have anything to make a comparison regarding his character but I thought he was pretty good. I actually liked his restraint approach, which suddenly turns into something completely unpredictable, and, sort of, lethal. I thought it helped creating something mysterious (there's probably a better word somewhere), unknown, something making the audience wondering who that man really is, which makes him more interesting.

__________Nicolas.

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."- Victor Hugo.

Unfortunately, when we find "who he really is," we find he was a nothing.

Although I mostly liked the movie, I thought that in his book James Salis did a far better than the film of showing what Driver was about. Driver was a far more complex and interesting character than Gosling and Refn managed to show us.